Vesper

We have right of first refusal on Thorgan, no? Keep seeing conflicting info.

Only clubs I would see him leaving for are the same old giants Real Barca Manure (IF they have CL footie) Maybe PSG (but they are in deep shit with FFP) Maybe Shitty Unless we get 4th or higher or win EL, I see zero chance he comes here, especially if we lose Eden and dont do massive business (besides KK) to fix the club Thank dog Levy is such a cheap cunt with Spuds, imagine KK on Poch's back 4 next year Toss KK, José Gayà or Alex Telles, and Tanguy Ndombele onto that team, plus a decent backup striker, they are at near CL winning level

From the local paper near Dortmund, Ruhrnachrichten Pulisic and Bruun Larsen disappoint - Weak form of the wings worries BVB https://www.ruhrnachrichten.de/sport/bvb/pulisic-und-bruun-larsen-enttaeuschen-formschwache-fluegel-bereiten-dem-bvb-plus-1358855.html BVB must draw the right lessons from the 1: 2 in Dusseldorf Christian Pulisic is paralysed in a frighteningly weak form https://www.ruhrnachrichten.de/sport/bvb/der-bvb-muss-die-richtigen-lehren-aus-dem-12-in-duesseldorf-ziehen-plus-1358559.html

So one more instalment of around 6.5m quid to go.

Yes, they paid 20m euros (around £17m at the time) in the deal made on May 22, 2017.

what really depresses me is a August 2019 front 3 of LW Willian CF Callum Wilson (Or Higs, especially a flop Higs) RW Pulisic (with Eden gone and the money not well spent)

I agree, as evidenced by the only two red and bolds including Tonali. Been on his train since seeing him last fall (2017) Even if we bought another off that list, still need to scoop up Tonali and let Sarri turn him slowly into a beast. He truly looks like reincarnation of Pirlo at thsi point, but more aggressive defensively. Time will tell.

This shows how important a good CF is!! just those 3 (Morata, Costa, Giroud) have assisted on 11 of his goals, and all three have hardly played with him, compared to some of the others.

I am sticking with my no real business being done this January stance. MAYBE Higs in, at most. I have zero faith in the board and Roman at this point. The only thing that contradicts this was the Kepa buy. I am still shocked (very very pleasantly so) at that one. Jorginho HAD to come or no Sarri. Let us all hope I am dead wrong!

These are the best DH DMF's who are remotely available (and most will be impossible to pull in January) Most are entirely out of our budget Bold are the best deals (Barrios is even mentioned by me, lol) Frenkie de Jong Ajax (can play anywhere from CB to DMF to AMF to even winger) Big problem is that he and de Ligt will probably be going as a package to Barca in summer He makes the most sense due to his ability to play other positions as well, not just deputise Jorginho. Ruben Neves Wolves Downside is his cost, Wolves have told Shitty £110m, which is insane Rodri Atletico Madrid AM just bought him, he is seen as the new Busquets. Pep loves him, but super hard to prise away from AM Thomas Atletico Madrid I am not sure if he has the passing skills needed, he is more of a trad DMF Marco Verratti PSG (deffo can play that role) Downside is that he will be INSANELY expensive, far more than we would be willing to pay Julian Weigl Dortmund (Shitty on him too) Has been up and down a bit, but so young and huge potential Wilmar Barrios Boca Juniors might be worth a shot, not 100% sold on him as a DH DMF Asier Illarramendi Real Sociedad might be ideal, only issue is he turns 29 in March or Igor Zubeldia Real Sociedad the 21yo (soon 22) version of Asier Illarramendi Sander Berge Genk Tall (1.93m) 20yo Norwegian, by far best player atm in the Belgium top flight (along with CF Wesley from Club Brugge KV) Stanislav Lobotka (24yo Slovakian) from Celta Vigo often plays in a kind of Jorginho role too, and Spurs and PSG are also all over him, Spuds has a £31m bid turned down at the window's end this summer. Leandro Paredes from Zenit (Roma had to sell him and Rudiger to meet FFP) He could deffo slot right in and of the established prime time (age wise) players, he would be the most doable. Still only 24yo too! Sandro Tonali 18yo Italian being hyped as next Pirlo, Sarri wants him bad bad bad Arne Maier Hertha Berlin 19yo wunderkind, 2nd best teenager DMF after Tonali IMHO, some would argue better, but I think Tonali is just perfect for the DH DMF role. Maier may end up a Kroos type which is also amazing. Manuel Locatelli Sassuolo (on Loan from AC Milan) 20yo, has regressed a bit the last year or so, he looked like a potential star at one point, maybe still is

I know he would say that publicly, I meant what he actually thinks (in private, in his own mind).

I would love to know what he really thinks of Luiz, and especially Alonso, Morata, and Willian, lolol.

HG targets (for better or worse) for us to meet quota GK Angus Gunn GK Nick Pope CB Nathan Aké (via buyback clause) CB Declan Rice CB Reece Oxford CB Fikayo Tomori (maybe promoted to our main squad) CB Ezri Konsa (Brentford) LB Ryan Sessegnon LB Ben Chilwell LB Rico Henry (Brentford) RB Reece James (promoted to our main squad, has star potential from what I see) RB Aaron Wan-Bissaka (super pacey, an interesting player, shame he is not a LB) RB Ola Aina (ours and has looked great for Torino, but they are buying him perm) RB Max Aarons (Norwich) RB James Justin (Luton Town) CMF Aaron Ramsey (zero clue where he ends up, I think outside the UK) CMF Lewis Cook (if we HAD to buy an English MF, we should have purchased him over Drinkwater, but a no for me, plus he blew his knee out badly, is done for the year, which is a huge blow for Bournemouth) CMF Morgan Gibbs-White AMF Mason Mount (promoted to main squad, so hope he comes good in a huge way) AMF James Maddison (I actually rate him a bit, looks dangerous every time I see him, NOT saying he is Chels level yet) AMF Jack Grealish AMF Eberechi Eze (QPR) LW Jadon Sancho LW Ollie Watkins (Brentford) RW Wilfried Zaha RW Reiss Nelson CF Marcus Rashford (they would never sell to us) CF Romelu Lukaku (he is actually homegrown, but hell NO) CF Callum Wilson (bad knees and a meh) CF Dominic Calvert-Lewin CF Tammy Abraham

£45m mistakes add up damn fast. We pissed away close to £180m on Morata, Drinkwater, Bats, and Bakayoko (just on fees) Thats £45m average.

Many problem with those 3 is that none are true DH DMFers, which is what Cesc's role is now (as a backup to Jorginho). Cesc has not been so good at it at all, but is, unfortunately the best of what we have (although I wouldn't mind seeing Kovacic take a swing at it, he seems versatile enough) Amadou Diawara also has the huge issue of being on the Poison Dwarf's team, so we can kiss him goodbye. These are the best DH DMF's who are remotely available (and most will be impossible to pull in January) Most are entirely out of our budget Bold are the best deals

So do we all!!!!!!!!! He’s quoted by ESPN saying: “I don’t know [if he will stay] but I think it’s time to decide. I have not the power to do this. I am the coach, not the president, I’m not in charge of the market.” “I’m the coach. I want to speak to him only about the position on the pitch. [But] I think we have to solve the problem if we want to [plan] the future. We have to solve this problem.”

You are in same boat as me bruv.

Sarri wants Fabregas to stay https://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/chelsea-fc-transfer-rumours-news/2018/12/29/18159647/sarri-wants-fabregas-to-stay If you believe what you’re reading, Cesc Fàbregas is already committed to leaving Chelsea in the January window. If Maurizio Sarr’s reading that stuff, though, he doesn’t seem to be believing it. He says he wants to keep the Premier League's second all-time assist-making midfielder. That last bit is the crucial one with regard to a January transfer. Things might be different in the summer, but the winter window is both overpriced and short on selection (not to mention how long it would take a newcomer to learn the system). Sarri needs Fàbregas.

Do you think Sarri is under orders to not play Morata (due to potential Higs swap)?

Let's hope you are right. The only thing I feel fairly certain of is Higuain coming in for a 6 month loan with Morata going the other way. If Juve didnt need to get Hig's massive salary off their books, they would block that as well. The deal is going to be very complicated due to amortisation issues, plus our stance on over 30yo's contracts. Pulisic ends up with Victimpool, I think, as well.

Yes, agree on that point, unfortunately. We are going to take a massive hit if Eden leaves in the summer. There are no LWers remotely close to him who are actually available, unless we drop 250-300m or so on Mbappe or 200 to 225m on Neymar, which is never going to happen.

Oh, yes, for sure. That is what I meant by breaking down the roles they play. Integrating Kante into Sarriball is Sarri's biggest structural issue. Most of the rest of his main issues are contractual, and especially quality wise.

Thorgan, unfortunately, is a LWer, just like his big brother. Part of the reason Pulisic scores so little is he almost always plays RW, as a righted-footed player. I am not a fan of RF RWers. Look at a fair amount of Willian's goals over the years. They have come from the left.

Oh, I think he is hugely important, absolute key to Shitty. I have been getting stick because I have said for months Pep is a fool to say his squad nreds nothing, when they literally have no true back up for Fernandinho. Look at them now, after he went down. I just think it is laughable though to same Fernandinho as a DMF is as good as Kante. It is a wonky comparison from the start, as Kante is not even being played at DMF anymore, and Fenandinho is a DH regista, which is not at all a trad DMF. If you played them both at traditional DMF, Kante is better by miles.